Mark your calendars: StarCraft 2 coming July 27

StarCraft 2 has been given an official release date, and it's sooner than we …

We were able to play through a large chunk of the single-player game of StarCraft 2 when we visited Blizzard's offices two weeks ago, and the game seemed nearly done; everything looked and played great. So it comes as no great surprise that the release date has been officially announced: you will be able to buy StarCraft 2 on July 27.

The launch also seems to be worldwide, as Blizzard states you'll be able to buy the game in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau "starting" on that date. Here's what you have to look forward to.

"The storyline chronicles the exploits of marshal-turned-rebel-leader Jim Raynor and features both familiar faces and new heroes. Players will be able to tailor the experience, choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style throughout the 29-mission campaign," Blizzard states, describing the single-player game. "Several challenge-mode minigames will also be included, with focused goals designed to ease players into the basics of multiplayer strategies."

The game will also ship with the newly updated Battle.net, as well as a set of advanced content-creation tools allowing you to create your own StarCraft 2 levels and mods. We were told that these tools may be slightly challenging unless you are already competent at scripting and game design, but they are very powerful; you'll be able to create all new game modes and experiences. To demonstrate what is possible, Blizzard showed off a third-person shooter at Blizzcon, and StarCraft 2 Lead Designer Dustin Browder told Ars he was hoping to see all new games created by fans once the game was released.

The game will be available as a $60 boxed retail copy, as well as a $100 Collector's Edition, with a wide variety of bonus content and goodies. For those averse to boxes and discs, the title will also be offered as a digital download soon after the retail launch.

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe for many years, and we're excited that the time for that is almost here," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Thanks to our beta testers, we're making great progress on the final stages of development, and we'll be ready to welcome players all over the world to StarCraft 2 and the new Battle.net in just a few months." Judging by the reaction of our readers whenever we post Starcraft 2 news, this game is one of the most anticipated releases to come along in some time.

With the launch of a new online service, a large-scale single-player and multiplayer experience, as well as an impressive suite of content creation tools included in the package, StarCraft 2 is nothing if not ambitious. Expect more coverage as soon as we get our hands on the final version.

That's really too bad. There are massive game dynamics issues with the multiplayer right now that I fear will preclude it from taking original SC's place on the progaming throne. I'm sure the single player will be fun and memorable, but this is definitely a bit of a disappointment to me.

That's really too bad. There are massive game dynamics issues with the multiplayer right now that I fear will preclude it from taking original SC's place on the progaming throne. I'm sure the single player will be fun and memorable, but this is definitely a bit of a disappointment to me.

I think I'm more interested in seeing what emerges from the editing tools than the game itself... which is convenient coincidence, as by the time some quality mods start coming out, the game should be much more palatably priced for what I intend to get out of it...

That's really too bad. There are massive game dynamics issues with the multiplayer right now that I fear will preclude it from taking original SC's place on the progaming throne. I'm sure the single player will be fun and memorable, but this is definitely a bit of a disappointment to me.

The original didn't start off perfectly balanced, fyi. It took years worth of patches and an expansion pack to get where it is today.

I haven't been able to justify spending $60 on Starcraft 2. I fear spending that much money on a game, especially one broken into 3 pieces, would set an awful precedent. I might go for it if I knew Activision wasn't getting my money, but there isn't an Activision-less version for sale. I think I'll wait for a price drop or some discount opportunity.

I've been having a blast with the original Starcraft lately thanks to some LAN parties. Everyone tends to only ever play Protoss though. Many people say the game is balanced, but I disagree. Regardless, it's amazing that such an old game still works so well!

That's really too bad. There are massive game dynamics issues with the multiplayer right now that I fear will preclude it from taking original SC's place on the progaming throne. I'm sure the single player will be fun and memorable, but this is definitely a bit of a disappointment to me.

That's not shocking, nor should it really be disappointing. The game will be continually adjusted and balanced post-launch, and in fact more people playing it will make that process faster and more productive. It took the first game a long time to get to where it is now. Blizzard is making wine, not Scotch.

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I haven't been able to justify spending $60 on Starcraft 2. I fear spending that much money on a game, especially one broken into 3 pieces, would set an awful precedent.

I get what your saying, but this comes with way more content than your standard game; it's not like your getting 1/3 the length of a regular title. The new Battle.net, the single-player game with its story and replay value, the multiplayer with all three classes, and the inevitable mods and new game types... you're not getting ripped off here.

I was about to say that, I thought that Scotch generally takes longer to make than wine.

The analogy would work though if you're saying that Blizzard is trying to make a product that is popular and accessible to everyone, and therefore it needs to get out to the public eventually.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll get this or not, I might try it out. I don't like playing RTS multiplayer for the most part but some features seem to make Starcraft 2 more appealing than the normal RTS multiplayer zerg affairs.

I think this will be the first PC game in several years that I'm planning to buy at retail on release, rather than wait until it hits a nice, deep discount on Steam. I'm making a leap of faith that Blizzard will price the second and third releases properly (no more than $35, since they're including nothing new except one SP campaign apiece). Blizzard has, by and large, always been good to me, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If they overprice the second and third installments, they won't be seeing another dime of my money, ever.

I think this will be the first PC game in several years that I'm planning to buy at retail on release, rather than wait until it hits a nice, deep discount on Steam. I'm making a leap of faith that Blizzard will price the second and third releases properly (no more than $35, since they're including nothing new except one SP campaign apiece). Blizzard has, by and large, always been good to me, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If they overprice the second and third installments, they won't be seeing another dime of my money, ever.

If each instalment is $60, then for 1-2 I'll be borrowing my friend's copies.

I was about to say that, I thought that Scotch generally takes longer to make than wine.

The analogy would work though if you're saying that Blizzard is trying to make a product that is popular and accessible to everyone, and therefore it needs to get out to the public eventually.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll get this or not, I might try it out. I don't like playing RTS multiplayer for the most part but some features seem to make Starcraft 2 more appealing than the normal RTS multiplayer zerg affairs.

I was making the point that Wine continues to age and improve once it's bottled, while scotch doesn't change once it's out of the barrel. Maybe I was being a bit obscure. :-)

I was about to say that, I thought that Scotch generally takes longer to make than wine.

The analogy would work though if you're saying that Blizzard is trying to make a product that is popular and accessible to everyone, and therefore it needs to get out to the public eventually.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll get this or not, I might try it out. I don't like playing RTS multiplayer for the most part but some features seem to make Starcraft 2 more appealing than the normal RTS multiplayer zerg affairs.

I was making the point that Wine continues to age and improve once it's bottled, while scotch doesn't change once it's out of the barrel. Maybe I was being a bit obscure. :-)

Not a good analogy. Once you open the bottle, it starts to oxidize and turn into vinegar... And I'm assuming that people will open the box and play it (the game that is).

So, has Bliz ever said whether they're going to be charging for the new Battle.net? Last I heard they had refused to say they *wouldn't* be charging anything, but I'm more of a Diablo fan than a SC fan so it's certainly possible that a statement has slipped past my less-than-complete attention.

My fear is that charging for at least some portion of online play seems like the sort of thing Activision might only put in the fine print on the packaging, so as to best exploit the release excitement for the highest possible initial sales before people realize it and the Internet explodes with rage.

I was about to say that, I thought that Scotch generally takes longer to make than wine.

The analogy would work though if you're saying that Blizzard is trying to make a product that is popular and accessible to everyone, and therefore it needs to get out to the public eventually.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll get this or not, I might try it out. I don't like playing RTS multiplayer for the most part but some features seem to make Starcraft 2 more appealing than the normal RTS multiplayer zerg affairs.

I was making the point that Wine continues to age and improve once it's bottled, while scotch doesn't change once it's out of the barrel. Maybe I was being a bit obscure. :-)

But that's really because you are moving the Scotch from a semi-permeable container to basically an impermeable container. Wine ages in the bottle due to the semi-permeable cork (not 100% true since capped wines can mature, but close enough) and the fact that it is so young when it is put in the bottle.

I was about to say that, I thought that Scotch generally takes longer to make than wine.

The analogy would work though if you're saying that Blizzard is trying to make a product that is popular and accessible to everyone, and therefore it needs to get out to the public eventually.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll get this or not, I might try it out. I don't like playing RTS multiplayer for the most part but some features seem to make Starcraft 2 more appealing than the normal RTS multiplayer zerg affairs.

I was making the point that Wine continues to age and improve once it's bottled, while scotch doesn't change once it's out of the barrel. Maybe I was being a bit obscure. :-)

But that's really because you are moving the Scotch from a semi-permeable container to basically an impermeable container. Wine ages in the bottle due to the semi-permeable cork (not 100% true since capped wines can mature, but close enough) and the fact that it is so young when it is put in the bottle.

So are you saying that SC2 will be shipped in an oak or cork box?

I love watching this happen to every analogy that gets proffered in the Ars forums... Geekery at it's finest, yes?FWIW: I think Ben is saying they won't be lining the inside of the box with charcoal.

That's really too bad. There are massive game dynamics issues with the multiplayer right now that I fear will preclude it from taking original SC's place on the progaming throne. I'm sure the single player will be fun and memorable, but this is definitely a bit of a disappointment to me.

I've been playing the beta for the past couple of months, currently sitting at top 5 silver in 1s and mid gold in 2s. I've played about 250-300 games so far, evenly distributed over all three races. With that said, I'd love to know, specifically, what your concerns are. I'm not disputing that there are some, but would like to know your thoughts.

For instance, specifics: Zerg are typically going hard mutas for a darn near guaranteed win. I've done this over and over. The dynamic really sets the player to cap their tech at t2 and mass there. There's little reason to go Brood Lords and nearly no reason to go Ultras. I'm yet to make an Ultra besides a custom game where we were just pecking around. Terran is still massing MMM balls. Unfortunately, it can't beat the mass muta (which I personally love since I'm rather partial to the zerg =P). Toss Phoenixes aren't really being tapped too much, as well as a number of other units, but that was typical of the first SC.

Now, the upside to this is the change that's come to the game just in the time I've been playing in Beta. There's been some significant patches, tweaking stats. I think they need to give the stalker a little love, and nerf the mutas, give the ultras a reason for being, etc. This isn't really tough stuff to do. So, I really feel good about the stats being solid at launch, and continuing to be polished over the years after the release.

I think it will be a huge new milestone in the RTS genre, which is already years ahead of every other RTS released recently, and will only continue to get better as the months and years go on.

I was about to say that, I thought that Scotch generally takes longer to make than wine.

The analogy would work though if you're saying that Blizzard is trying to make a product that is popular and accessible to everyone, and therefore it needs to get out to the public eventually.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll get this or not, I might try it out. I don't like playing RTS multiplayer for the most part but some features seem to make Starcraft 2 more appealing than the normal RTS multiplayer zerg affairs.

I was making the point that Wine continues to age and improve once it's bottled, while scotch doesn't change once it's out of the barrel. Maybe I was being a bit obscure. :-)